During Infosys’ annual general meeting on June 28, shareholders raised concerns about the use of AI and its potential to replace humans, improve productivity, and pose risks. CEO Salil Parekh disclosed that Infosys currently has 50 active client projects utilizing generative AI, highlighting its increasing importance in the AI-driven world.
Chairman Nilekani Highlights Complexities and the Importance of Responsible Implementation of AI
The company intends to focus more on AI, with ongoing discussions involving over 300 clients regarding their AI-first offering, Infosys Topaz. Chairman Nandan Nilekani acknowledged the complexities associated with generative AI, including practical, ethical, and intellectual property issues that remain unresolved. Nilekani emphasized the need to scale AI in the enterprise while ensuring a balanced approach that considers people, technology, and process, and segments work into cognitive tasks. However, he acknowledged the short-term challenges with AI and clarified that while there are concerns about the impact on humanity, AI has numerous powerful use cases when appropriately regulated. Nilekani stressed the importance of responsible AI implementation, adhering to regulatory, privacy, and accuracy rules to harness its positive potential.
Emphasizes Productivity Enhancement and New Work Opportunities
Addressing concerns about AI replacing humans, Nilekani stated that it has the potential to enhance productivity, especially for qualified and experienced individuals who can benefit from tasks like automatic code generation. Parekh confirmed that the company has observed productivity improvements ranging from 10% to 30% in different areas. He added that rather than making workers redundant, AI creates new types of work as clients adopt new technologies. Within Infosys, Parekh mentioned efforts to enhance productivity by leveraging large language models in software development, particularly in the product business, with the impact expected to unfold in the coming quarters and years.
The discussion around generative AI coincides with a challenging demand environment for IT companies, as reflected in Infosys’ revenue guidance of 4-7% for FY24. Chairman Nilekani acknowledged the end of one set of challenges with the receding pandemic but highlighted the emergence of new ones, such as inflation, interest rates, geopolitics, war, demand volatility, and supply chain disruptions. He emphasized the need for flexibility in addressing these factors. Parekh noted a shift in client attention from digital and cloud transformation to cost efficiency and automation due to the slowing global economy. When asked about cloud growth, Parekh emphasized its foundational role in companies’ digital transformation efforts.
